Lieksa
Lieksa | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Lieksan kaupunki Lieksa stad | |
 Town center of Lieksa | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Lieksa in Finland | |
Interactive map of Lieksa | |
| Coordinates: 63°19′N 030°01′E / 63.317°N 30.017°E | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | North Karelia |
| Sub-region | Pielinen Karelia |
| Charter | 1973 |
| Government | |
| • Town manager | Pirre Seppänen [1] |
| Area (2018-01-01)[2] | |
• Total | 4,067.60 km2 (1,570.51 sq mi) |
| • Land | 3,417.86 km2 (1,319.64 sq mi) |
| • Water | 649.14 km2 (250.63 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 15th largest in Finland |
| Population (2025-12-31)[3] | |
• Total | 9,846 |
| • Rank | 97th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 2.88/km2 (7.5/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 93.2% (official) |
| • Others | 6.8% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 9.9% |
| • 15 to 64 | 52% |
| • 65 or older | 38.1% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Website | www |
Lieksa (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈlie̯ksɑ]) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 9,846 (31 December 2025)[3] and covers an area of 4,067.60 square kilometres (1,570.51 sq mi) of which 649.14 km2 (250.63 sq mi) is water.[2] The population density is 2.88 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.5/sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The town of Lieksa was established in 1973 when the Market town of Lieksa and the Municipality of Pielisjärvi were consolidated.
Geography
Neighbouring municipalities are Ilomantsi, Joensuu, Juuka, Kontiolahti, Kuhmo and Nurmes.
Populated places
Populated places within Lieksa include:
- Koli
- Mätäsvaara
- Vieki
Climate
Lieksa has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc), 0.7°C away from the threshold of the humid continental climate. Lieksa has more continental characteristics than most of the Nordics and Finland, making it prone to extreme temperatures, especially in winter. In summer temperatures regularly exceed 20.0 °C (68.0 °F), and the highest temperature ever recorded was 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) in July 1934. Also, during the Heatwave of 2010, the temperature in Lieksa reached 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) degrees. In winter, the snow cover is usually around 60 cm deep. On a typical winter night, the temperature drops to around −15.0 °C (5.0 °F) and readings as low as −30.0 °C (−22.0 °F) are not unusual. The coldest temperature ever observed in Lieksa was −47.0 °C (−52.6 °F) in December 1919.[6]
| Climate data for Lieksa, 1991-2020 normals, extremes 1916-present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 6.7 (44.1) |
6.6 (43.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
23.6 (74.5) |
30.2 (86.4) |
31.8 (89.2) |
35.6 (96.1) |
31.9 (89.4) |
25.9 (78.6) |
18.4 (65.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
7.6 (45.7) |
35.6 (96.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −6 (21) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
6.2 (43.2) |
13.7 (56.7) |
18.8 (65.8) |
21.7 (71.1) |
19.2 (66.6) |
13.3 (55.9) |
5.8 (42.4) |
0.1 (32.2) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
7.0 (44.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −9.4 (15.1) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
1.5 (34.7) |
8.4 (47.1) |
13.8 (56.8) |
16.6 (61.9) |
14.3 (57.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
3.2 (37.8) |
−2 (28) |
−6.2 (20.8) |
3.0 (37.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −13.4 (7.9) |
−13.9 (7.0) |
−9.6 (14.7) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
2.8 (37.0) |
8.3 (46.9) |
11.4 (52.5) |
9.6 (49.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−1.3 (29.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −41.8 (−43.2) |
−42.4 (−44.3) |
−38.8 (−37.8) |
−21.4 (−6.5) |
−15.0 (5.0) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−21.5 (−6.7) |
−30.5 (−22.9) |
−47.0 (−52.6) |
−47.0 (−52.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 55 (2.2) |
46 (1.8) |
43 (1.7) |
37 (1.5) |
55 (2.2) |
75 (3.0) |
93 (3.7) |
83 (3.3) |
76 (3.0) |
76 (3.0) |
67 (2.6) |
66 (2.6) |
772 (30.6) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 21 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 201 |
| Source 1: FMI[7] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: FMI (record highs and lows)[8] | |||||||||||||
Notable people
- Heino Kaski (1885–1957), composer
- Mira Jalosuo (born 1989), Olympic ice hockey medalist
- Ilmari Juutilainen (1914–1999), top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force
- Jorma J. Rissanen (1933–2020), information theorist
- Marutei Tsurunen (弦念丸呈, ツルネン・マルテイ, Tsurunen Marutei; born Martti Turunen in 1940), Finnish-born Japanese politician and first European-born member of the Diet of Japan
- Heikki Turunen (born 1945), author
Transport
The nearest airport is Joensuu Airport, located 100 km (62 mi) south of Lieksa. The airport provides direct routes to Helsinki which are operated by Finnair.
See also
- Lieksanjoki
- Koli National Park
- Koli, Finland
- Kuhmo
- Reboly
References
- ^ "Kaupungin johto". Lieksa.fi. Lieksan kaupunki. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ a b c "Population growth slowed down in 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 1 April 2026. ISSN 2243-3627. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
- ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ "SUOMEN MAAKUNTIEN ILMAST" (PDF). www.helda.helsinki.fi. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
- ^ "FMI normals 1981-2010" (PDF). FMI. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ "FMI open data". FMI. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
External links
Lieksa travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related to Lieksa at Wikimedia Commons- Town of Lieksa – Official site
- Pocket Facts
- Lieksa daily photo – Unofficial daily photo
Places adjacent to Lieksa | |
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| Municipalities |  | |
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| Former municipalities |
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